The right-hander will make his season debut with the Tribe on Tuesday, six weeks after the club jettisoned him to Triple-A to begin the season with the Columbus Clippers.

"When we sent him down," said manager Terry Francona, "he was as classy as you can be."

Tomlin figured he wouldn't be long for the minor leagues. He fashioned a 3.54 ERA in 20 1/3 innings during spring training. He hadn't started a big league game since July 2012, as Tommy John surgery claimed most of his 2013 season.

"Initially, it's something you hear and it's not the best news," Tomlin, in an interview conducted by the Indians, said of starting the year at Triple-A. "But throughout the course of the year, you understand that there's going to be more need than just five guys in the rotation. Stuff happens, injuries happen. It's a long season.

"For me, it was just going down there and putting in the work that needed to be put in and coming back from Tommy John surgery and having a full year off, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me."

Out in Arizona, Tomlin, Carrasco, Trevor Bauer and Aaron Harang competed for the fifth spot in the Indians' rotation. Carrasco allowed 14 runs (nine earned) on 24 hits over 15 2/3 innings. Bauer compiled a 10.29 ERA in seven frames and dropped out of the race relatively early in camp. Harang held the opposition to two runs over nine innings and forced the Indians' brass to strongly consider paying him a $100,000 retention bonus toward the end of spring training.

Alas, Carrasco staked claim to the open rotation spot, though his lack of minor league options significantly factored into the decision. The team cut Harang loose; he has racked up a 3-3 mark and 2.98 ERA in seven starts with Atlanta. Bauer and Tomlin headed to Columbus, where both hurlers have thrived.

The Indians wanted to ensure they exhausted every chance Carrasco had at excelling as a starter. They quickly grew exhausted of watching him struggle every five days.

Perhaps Tomlin, Bauer or Harang would have fared better than Carrasco did in his four big league outings, in which he compiled an 0-3 record sand 6.95 ERA. Hindsight makes that readily apparent.

For the purposes of roster construction, Francona said he doesn't regret the decisions made in late March.

"For what I think are the right reasons, we wanted to see Carlos pitch," Francona said. "There's a lot more that goes into it maybe than just a guy pitching. You know going into the year that you're going to need more than five starters and, if you clear the cupboard to make sure you're set for Game 7 of the World Series on Opening Day, you don't keep your organization very healthy.

"That was something we really were trying to think about a lot and Josh probably caught a little bit of it, because he had an option. That's what we talked about. We tried to figure out a way to keep Aaron Harang. We had so many meetings about that. You want to keep depth, knowing that you're going to need it.

"That last week [of spring training] wears on all of us, because the closer you get to the end of spring, guys are feeling it. Those guys down there, man, they see guys bringing their suitcases in and everybody's getting excited and talking about going to San Diego and on to Oakland, and those guys are stuck in limbo."

Even if it's a month later than he would have hoped, Tomlin -- at least based on his results at Triple-A -- appears prepared to seize his spot in the rotation.

In five starts with the Clippers, Tomlin logged a 2.06 ERA, with 28 strikeouts and only nine walks in 35 innings. In his final minor league tune-up on Thursday, Tomlin tossed a three-hit shutout, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He only needed 89 pitches, and heaved 70 of them for strikes. He tallied eight scoreless frames in his previous outing.

Now, he'll get the chance he might have deserved a month earlier.

"This is what you work for in Triple-A, is to try to do the best you can and try to get here," Tomlin said. "I'm fortunate enough to be here and happy to be here."

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